The Energon Pub

Tue Dec 25, 2012 10:53 am

Gobots (under a different name). I had a bucketful, and then when 1984/5 rolled around I switched to Transformers.

News Credits: 104 · Tue Dec 25, 2012 3:18 pm

I was 13, I saw a commercial for cars and planes that transformed into robots.

Nuff said..

News Credits: 251 · Sat Dec 29, 2012 9:18 pm

In technicality, Robots in Disguise Optimus Prime and Galvatron were my firsts (got them at the same time), but I didn't know what the hell Transformers were. When it comes to collecting, Armada sealed the deal. My first here was Demolishor. I need a new one of him; mine's all rusty and only has two missiles. Blackout is rusty as well. :-(

News Credits: 1 · Tue Jan 01, 2013 12:08 pm

I'm not sure what came first: exposure to Prowl's action figure, or catching a glimpse of the first cartoon episode for G1. Either way I was hooked. Like many others, I lost interest as the marketing for TFs went down hill to a near non-existant state. Then G2 hit the stores and my interest was beginning to stir again. It wasn't until a friend of mine told me about Beast Machines and I was full swing into collecting and watching tv shows again.

Thu Jan 03, 2013 2:48 pm

I think it was 80's cartoons in general really....I started drawing at a super young age, and I'd watch cartoons and draw while I watched them.

Voltron was my first big super robot cartoon- that got me hooked into transforming robots.

Then I rented Mazinger Z AKA Tranzor Z from a video store down the street- that got me hooked.

Then I rented Voltes V, Daimos, and UFO Diapolon from the same video store- and eventually I started watching Transformers all the time plus renting tons of videos whenever I could.

And seeing as how Transformers had a toyline I could actually buy and play with, whereas the others didn't, I bought G1 Optimus Prime and kept watching and collecting after that.....

There's still one toy I'd like, completely 100% posable, hasn't been made yet by any company, streamline or 3rd party: STAR CONVOY ^_^

If I could get a super-posable Star Convoy I'd be a VERY happy collector ^_^

Sat Jan 05, 2013 8:46 am

Holding my friends Transformer when i was 6 or 7, him saying "don't fold anything, just look at it" lol things kids say. After he showed me what it did I was hooked.

Sat Jan 05, 2013 9:24 pm

I was between 6 and 8 years old. My dad brought home a VHS (remember those?) of TF:TM. When we watched it, the tape went blank, though I don't remember where in the film. So he got a new copy. That was my first exposure to the franchise, and I still have that same tape.

What got me hooked toy-wise was Beast Wars, and I never really watched G1 until they released it for the 25th anniverssarry.

News Credits: 3 · Sun Jan 06, 2013 3:08 pm

I was 3 or 4 year until I got my first Transformers for Chrismas it was G1 Ultra Magnus.

Sun Jan 06, 2013 9:18 pm

I don't really know. I was older when they first hit the shelves,and when the show first hit the airwaves, and something about sentient robots from another planet locked in an eons-old civil war just struck a chord that the other toylines of the day didn't. At a time when I should have been moving on to video games, I just kept right on going with my little plastic robots. And I'm still there all these years later, although the later episodes of the Energon series made that a little more difficult.

Thu Feb 28, 2013 6:15 am

Ah, thereby hangs a tale.

RhA wrote:It's vague, but I remember green robots, a sandbox in the schoolyard and WHAT THE CRAP DID THAT T-REX JUST TURN INTO A ROBOT.

My first TF toy was G1 Grimlock; my dad bought it secondhand around 92. I didn't like it much at first, as I felt the T-rex was anatomically incorrect (it didn't have correct posture, was too bulky, and had the wrong number of fingers). After a while it started to grow on me and I played with it more often, until one day I discovered his chest could open and there was a robot head inside. I began to experiment, and eventually realized he could change into a robot. It took me a while to realize I was supposed to separate the legs, but I was really happy with the toy from then on. I wanted to learn more about it.

I went to Blockbuster (remember those?) and rented a VHS (wow, I'm old) with the G1 episode 'SOS Dinobots', and was enthralled at the dinosaurs, and annoyed when that weird red white and blue guy took up their screentime.

I didn't know anything about TF fiction, but did eventually infer from my friends with their toys that there were two factions, and I figured I should find a guy for Grimlock to battle. I found the Decepticon who would be his rival at a flea market: Shockwave.

I played with the toys regularly but didn't bug my folks to buy more Transformers until 1996, when Beast Wars hit. Dinosaurs changing into robots was the initial lure, but even as a kid I recognized the cartoon was of a better quality than its peers, even the similarly CG Reboot. It had story. It had soul. And man Dinobot and Megatron were awesome. And that spider guy's laugh creeped me right out.

I fell out of habit after the bad taste Beast Machines left in my mouth, basically ignored the 2007 movie, and then one day in 2010, on a whim, I downloaded the demo to try the multiplayer of this new Activision title called War For Cybertron.

After playing through the game proper a few weeks later, my love was renewed, and I was forevermore a fan.

News Credits: 4 · Sun Jun 02, 2013 7:28 pm

When Kids' WB was still around (making myself sound older than what I really am), Transformers Cybertron got me interested in Transformers. However, I didn't become hooked on the brand until 2008 when I finally watched the live action film. (Oh and for those who still talk about VHS tapes...I have em too, though mostly animated Disney film

)

Fri Jun 21, 2013 5:41 am

My love to Transformers from the other hand raised in stages. Firstly, when I was in Pre-School, we collect w chuing gum "Transformeers" and i get one toy as i Kid. When i Was 10, Beast Wars totally onwed my mind, few years later, Armada do the same thing. But I won't turned into a strait Transformers maniac unitl 2007 and LA Movie, when i start to watch everything and become a real colletor.

Wed Jun 26, 2013 12:05 am

What got me into them was a combination of three things. I want everyone to bear in mind I'm only 19. Megamorphers Technogear Buzz Lightyear, Rid Spychangers Prowl and Sideswipe two pack and seeing the G1 movie after renting it from Blockbuster shortly after getting Sideburn. After seeing that, it just soared.

Oh yeah and my first time seeing the Dinobots sent my mind :BOOM:

because I was huge into dinosaurs at the time.

Fri Jun 28, 2013 1:40 pm

Well when i was younger i really was the toys that got me into transformers. But it was kinda a combination of the toys and the tv series' that ran during that time.

Fri Jun 28, 2013 6:07 pm

Well, my mom always told me a story of me as a child of when a Beast Wars commercial was on. During the time the commercial was playing, she picked me up to do something and I started to cry out "Feese fores mommy! feese fores!" I was so devastated because I didn't want to stop seeing them! An ape transforming into some cool ass looking robot with weapons? Come on man that's a kids dream.

Before I knew it, time passed and I possessed BOTH Transmetal Megatron and Primal (along with a good amount of others, I love my parents for that). My Primal's arms broke :sad:

and I honestly do not remember what happened to my Megatron. I know I had him for a while after my Primal's death which is weird... RIP. I used to watch Beast Wars on Fox Kids every Saturday! Damn... I even remember before that I was at my cousins house going through his toys and he had an original BW Megatron. He wasn't home at the time so I couldn't just take it... and it was just piled under a bunch of other toys non transformers related. I remember just thinking "He doesn't even appreciate it." When I was like 3 lmfao because I never saw one in person!

I instantly fell in love with Transformers... but the funny thing is at the time I only knew it as Beast Wars. Then Beast Machines happened. I watched a good amount of the show but then fell off. I just lost interest because that show was no where near Beast Wars. I remember getting a BM Cheetor and the toy was nice... but all I could picture in my head was the original or Transmetal Cheetor. (Which was my FAVORITE character in Beast Wars) I even did a project on Cheetahs in 5th or 6th grade as a homage to Cheetor.

The first TF site I used to frequently visit was BWTF.com I probably looked at EVERY SINGLE gallery. :lol:

I was baffled by all of these other figures that I never knew existed!

So more time passed... Beast Machines finished. Then Robots In Disguise premiered! That show completely restored my faith. I was near drooling over the look of Magnus/Prime combined. Still have never seen one of the pair of figures to this day.
I loved Armada... surprised that I still have almost the whole Autobot roster besides the minicons. I even have Unicron! I was really blessed as a kid.

I'm positive that during the time of Armada, was when I first saw the original Transformers movie. I went to blockbuster with my family. I saw TRANSFORMERS on the cover and thought? WTF is this? I never new the original series had a movie!? I thought it looked cheap but I said hey let me give it a chance. Boy am I glad I took that chance. The weapon noises annoyed me at first (which I honestly love now) but after.... I BUGGED OUT during the WHOLE MOVIE. I must have seen it that same year over 20 times. Seriously not exaggerating. It's still a movie I can watch a thousand times and not get tired of it.

Even more time passed & to be honest. I got older and grew out of toys and the whole Transformers Universe.. I also grew a mentality where I shouldn't have those in my life anymore. Yeah the movies got me pumped! But I still didn't buy any toys. It was just eh to me at the time.

I don't remember exactly how I got back into Transformers. But last year, my first year of college, I was very serious about my grades and sacrificed a lot of time going out. I got a little tired of focusing so much. Which lead to me looking for something on the side to keep me relaxed and positive. Somehow... I ran across this website.

& Completely went Transformers apes*** again. I thought to myself "WHY DID I EVER LEAVE!?!?!?!?!?!" I LOVE TRANSFORMERS! It was a giant part of my life. Watching Optimus Prime fight for good... getting across good morals.. THE TOYS. Now I really want to get into the comics because It shows sides of the Transformers characters/universe that I'd really enjoy to see.

I've said this in a past post. I don't think I could of came back at a better time.

News Credits: 1 · Wed Jul 03, 2013 6:34 pm

Originally when Transformers first came out in 1984, sad to admit, I was not that much interested in them. I had a good friend and co-worker who had a few of the original G1 figures. It was not until I heard about the animated Tansformers movie where they killed off Optimus Prime, that my interest was peaked. I watched the movie and the collecting fever hit me with full force and I have been a collector eve since. My all time favorite line will ALWAYS be the G1 line!

Tue Jul 30, 2013 9:52 pm

I remember the exact moment in '84. Five years old in the living room. Whatever it was I was doing I stopped immediately and shut the hell up because the commercial for the Transformers comic book came on and completely grabbed me by the balls and didn't let go. I'd never seen anything like it. I was probably watching stuff like Super Friends, Pac-Man, and He-Man, and in the span of less than 30 seconds the animation in that commercial blew it all out of the water. It was like an atom bomb went off in my brain. I didn't care about comic books but when the cartoon finally hit and I got my first toys, there was no turning back. I remember crying in the movie theater when Optimus Prime died and even getting hives Christmas Eve of '86 because I couldn't even stand the excitement of opening all those Transformers the next morning. Eventually, the combination of the cartoon getting cancelled and the overall weirdness of the line (I'm thinking of Pretenders in particular) contributed to me finally moving on in '88. And say what you want about the Bay movies, but twenty years later, that's what brought me back.

News Credits: 1 · Wed Jul 31, 2013 5:40 am

Can't recall it in detail, but I do remember "stumbling upon" the G1 cartoon when I was about 6--just happened to turn on the TV on the right channel at the right time. Didn't understand much of what was going on, but the sight of transforming robots shooting and punching at each other was enough to get me hooked.

I moved on to other things like M.A.S.K. in the later years, and soon left Transformers along with my childhood.

Fast forward two decades or so, and my passion was reignited by the Bay movies, and I think I'm here to stay as a TF fan.

Sun Aug 18, 2013 7:26 pm

I was born in 84 so I think I ca[list=][/list]n remember when transformers started reairing in 88. And then I got an Optimus prime for christmas. That's probably the same as most other peoples stories. Pretty run of the mill.